What Comes Next for Daveed Diggs? Film, TV & New Music!

What Comes Next for Daveed Diggs? Film, TV & New Music!

It’s been only four days since Daveed Diggsannounced his sudden departure from Hamilton, with his final curtain call taking place Friday, July 15. But not to worry. Already, the Tony Award-winner has a series of various projects lined up.

Last month his noise-rap trio, clipping., dropped a 6-track EP called “Wriggle.” Shortly after, they released a music video, made up of fast cuts of popular gifs, for the title song.

Let’s just say I lived for the “Mommie Dearest” and “Showgirls” plugs.

He also collaborated on a track with experimental rap group True Neutral Crew, called “Modern Art,” from their debut album “soft rules.” Listen below:

He’s signed on to Andy Samberg’s (The Lonely Island, “Saturday Night Live”) HBO mockumentary titled “Tour de Pharmacy,” a limited series that tackles the role of doping in the world of professional cycling. The cast also includes Phylicia Rashad and Mike Tyson. He certainly has the comedic chops this show may require.

Get ready to binge-watch Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Netflix series “The Get Down,” a fictional narrative about the birth of hip-hop among kids in the South Bronx, premiering August 12. Luhrmann revealed that Diggs will act as the narrator.

In what may be the first of many more film roles to come, Diggs joins the cast of Lionsgate’s “Wonder,” starring young actor Jacob Tremblay (“Room”), Julia Roberts, and Owen Wilson. Based on R.J. Palacio’s novel, the story follows Auggie Pullman, a young boy with a facial deformity as he enters the fifth grade. Stephen Chbosky directs.

Despite our lingering sadness, we couldn’t be happier for him. He’ll always be our Marquis de Lafayette, our Thomas Jefferson, but he has more than enough talent and charisma to take on a plethora of different roles. And we can’t wait to witness every one of them.

The Public Theater Will Present Hercules Musical & Hercules Is Black!

We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when. Back in 2017, we reported that a musical adaptation of the Disney movie Hercules would be headed to Broadway. Now we can confirm that is somewhat true.

Hercules will be the latest Disney musical to be made for the stage and will play Off-Broadway at the Public Theater’s Delacorte Theater in Central Park. As the final show of the Shakespeare in the Park season theater season performances will run August 31 through September 8 with a reading set to take place in April.

The role of Hercules will be played by a Black actor, according to the casting notice

The musical will include the Oscar-nominated “Go the Distance, along with other songs from the 1997 animated film by Alan Menken & David Zippel. Presented through an arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions, the show will be directed by Lear deBessonet. The creative team also includes a book by Kristoffer Diaz, & choreography by Chase Brock.

Before Hercules, Kenny Leon will direct the Much Ado About Nothing May 21 through June 23 to begin the Shakespeare in the Park season.

Lynn Nottage Today, Tomorrow and Beyond

Lynn Nottage’s 2017 Tony Award nominated play Sweat ended its Broadway run at Studio 54 on June 25. We weren’t ready to say goodbye to Sweat, and we’re definitely not ready to say goodbye to Lynn Nottage, leaving us to wonder what’s next for the two-time Pulitzer prize-winning playwright?

Not just any musical, but an adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s book, The Secret Life of Bees. Book by Nottage, music by Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (Jelly’s Last Jam) and direction by Sam Gold (Fun Home).

Nottage’s first musical follows the story of Lilly Owens, a white teen growing up in 1960’s South Carolina and her Black caretaker Rosaleen. After Rosaleen is hospitalized following an attempt to vote, she and Lily do their best to escape the harsh realities of their respective lives in the Jim Crow South, and happen upon a bee farm. “It sang to me” Nottage said of adapting Kidd’s book to a musical, “Every page I saw a song.”

The Secret Life of Bees will be presented as a workshop production at the Powerhouse Theater from July 27-29, apart of the New York Stage and Film’s 2017 season.

Finally, for the 2017/2018 season, Nottage’s play Mlima’s Tale will make it’s world premiere at The Public Theater and run from March 27 through May 20, 2018. Mlima’s Tale follows the story of Mlima, an african elephant caught between freedom and the

From a site-specific performance installation, to her first musical, ending with another show at The Public Theater… Lynn Nottage has given us a lot to look forward to following her Broadway debut, and we will be ready. Sitting front and center.